Popcorn Time, the Piracy App That Spooked Netflix, Shuts Down

Popcorn Time, the once-popular app that made watching pirated movies and television shows almost as easy as using Netflix, has shut down. Bloomberg News: The app debuted in 2014 and within a year became one of the most popular services for accessing illegal video content. Popcorn Time's creators deserted the service shortly after its introduction, and emails released after a hack of Sony Group indicated law enforcement may have played a role. But the app's code was open-source, and other developers jumped in to release new versions. In 2015, a developer associated with Popcorn Time told Bloomberg that the service wasn't responsible for piracy because it didn't host any stolen material itself. The software instead offered a link to computers around the world hosting the content through the file-sharing system BitTorrent. "The torrent world was here with millions of users way before us and will be here with BILLIONS of users way after us," he said at the time.

One shuts down... another 10 pop up

[ozmartian]

The cycle of life continues...

Re:

[NFN_NLN]

> ... another 10 pop up.

Almost like, kernels of... popcorn.

Re:

[saloomy]

The code and the software is not illegal. The act of sharing the content is illegal. Torrent sites should host a massive trove of older public domain content so there is legitimate use-cases. Especially since sites like Netflix do not hold great classics that are free.

Re:

[rpresser]

See archive.org . Most content there can be downloaded as a torrent.

Re: One shuts down... another 10 pop up

[ArmoredDragon]

public domain content so there is legitimate use-cases

Nearly all of it is going to be propaganda material. Unless there's something from 1926 or older that you're interested in.

Re:

[putnamca]

This is the way.

So was it "shut down" or no?

[diffract]

I remember the developers abandoning the project shortly after release, but the story itself says the code was open soirce and other developers jumped in and released their own copies or modifications. How can you shut that down?

Re:

[slazzy]

Media companies probably tossed a few million dollars to the people running it asking them to shut it down, just like TerrariumTV. Naturally, someone else will startup another one.

Re:

[King_TJ]

Maybe there was just nothing of value left to watch over it?

(I kid, sort of. But wow, I decided to sit down and watch some local network TV a couple weeks ago, which I really almost never do. Flipping through the channels, I ran into literally 3 different "cop/crime" type dramas with the same basic, overused plot of them trying to stop some bomber before he blew up more buildings. Then, I turned to a news station where the first 20 minutes of the programming was nothing but COVID related stories and a big "

Re:

[mtmra70]

Must have been a Sinclair station

Re:

[drinkypoo]

(This is also a work of fiction. I also don't live in the US)

At least it's more plausible than the China-acting-on-its-own theory.

Re: So was it "shut down" or no?

[rpnx]

The "China was working on coronavirus research and there was an accidental lab leak" theory seems credible if not provable. Seems to comport with the relative carelessness of design I see in other Chinese products...

Re:

[thegarbz]

How can you shut that down?

Popcorn time still relied on a central server for information, its tracker scraping wasn't automated. If that server isn't available and no one else steps up it is effectively shut down.

DeTorrent

[kyoko21]

Soon, we'll see the marriage of a decentralized torrent network where the torrents will be made part of the underlying blockchain as new torrent files are "validated" through some sort of a consensus that a particular torrent file do represent valid hashes. Thus, the blockchain itself won't hold any copyright information, but hashes of whatever files that's been validated to be approved on said blockchain.

 

Re:DeTorrent

[AntiPete]

Soon, we'll see the marriage of a decentralized torrent network where the torrents will be made part of the underlying blockchain as new torrent files are "validated" through some sort of a consensus that a particular torrent file do represent valid hashes.

And just like crypto, it'll take eons to get anything useful out of it, while the planet burns waiting for it...

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

> And just like crypto, it'll take eons to get anything useful out of it, while the planet burns waiting for it...

13 years into a brand new technology and people with no sense of history are complaining of patience.

Those same people probably benefit from internal combustion engines and air conditioning. Unbelievable.

Re:

[putnamca]

4. Profit???

Re:

[matmos]

Torrents already have a good way of checking validity, they don't need blockchain. Blockchain is bad for anonymity as most record your unique ID basically forever whereas torrents just come and go like the tide. I think I'll be sticking with the old ways.

Re:

[Kernel Kurtz]

Soon, we'll see the marriage of a decentralized torrent network where the torrents will be made part of the underlying blockchain as new torrent files are "validated" through some sort of a consensus that a particular torrent file do represent valid hashes. Thus, the blockchain itself won't hold any copyright information, but hashes of whatever files that's been validated to be approved on said blockchain.

No idea what you are saying, but any plan to make the MPAA/RIAA sue someone for it is a winner in my book.

Re:

[DrSpock11]

You should turn this idea into an NFT and sell it.

BitTorrent

[Thelasko]

BitTorrent was Web3 before it was cool.

Re:

[correct0r]

Web 3 was invented by middle managers for middle managers.

It will never be cool. Or used.

Re: BitTorrent

[Kelxin]

I know someone that's working on helping develop it and even he is having doubts right now.

Re: BitTorrent

[Anonymouse Cowtard]

We ALL develop Web3. Web3 is US.

Bummer

[Snotnose]

First time I hear about them is telling me they were A) really usefull; and B) they've been shut down.

lol nope

[b3e3]

https://popcorn-ru.tk/ [popcorn-ru.tk] is still up, the program and its API servers run fine after a little setup, but it's been de-listed by some DNS providers.

Use a decent VPN, and it's business as usual.